Addis Jemari is so incredibly blessed by the support of donors and champions in 2019!
Praising God for the New Beginnings for us in 2020, we look back in 2019 where there were so many abundant blessings for our AJ home.
- Throughout 2019, the AJ Girls were provided with a safe, loving and warm home, which contributed to their overall health and growth, and helped them to fully focus on schoolwork. Thanks to our donors and the Ethiopian staff that made it all happen!
- Thanks to our healthcare and nutrition monthly sponsors and our wonderful AJ home cook, in 2019 the Girls in our program received three nutritious meals each day, as well as daily vitamins. The girls ended the year healthy and strong!
- Our AJ Girls received healthcare coverage they needed throughout 2019 including physicals, dental visits, sick visits, and any prescribed medications they needed.
- Discipleship is one of AJ’s core values. Every Tuesday in 2019, the AJ Girls and staff studied God’s Word together at the AJ home. These weekly Bible-centered discussions provide the girls opportunities for personal growth and the further development of their faith!
- Based on Biblical principles and created explicitly for Addis Jemari, financial literacy curriculum was taught to the girls and staff in the AJ Home in early 2019. The first four modules of our seven-lesson curriculum were rolled out by one of our incredible mission team members from the US in early 2019. This training helped the AJ Girls and staff to be clear on their own values and made it easier for them to use their time, energy and resources towards things they really value in life.
- The AJ Girls received monthly allowances and saved 27 percent of it in their personal saving account. Since we trained them on the importance of saving more than spending, the girls now know how to budget for “wants’’ versus their ‘’needs”.
- In 2019, all the AJ Girls had a very good school year! Education is one of the core values at Addis Jemari that we put in place to empower our girls to be self- sustained and be able to access better opportunities in their future paths.
- June 2019 was an exciting month, for it was the time our girls received their school reports. They all made us proud excelling in their classes. One of them performed so well that she had earned the spot of being ninth in her class! This same girl is now preparing for the national exam, which will allow her the opportunity to go to University (college.)
- In summer 2019, as they transition their focus from school studies to community involvement, the AJ Girls had visited (together with our social worker) other philanthropic organizations in Addis Ababa that are committed to making a difference in the lives of others. The visits were instrumental in inspiring the girls to actively plan their own individual summer community outreach projects.
- Summer enrichment project was one of the biggest successes of the year! The project comprised summer enrichment classes for our AJ Girls, a bonding and educational trip for the girls and staff, and a new program component…a “Change your Community” project that helped further develop our core value of Community Involvement to be instilled into the daily lives of our girls.
- Growing is exactly what occurred when AJ Girls did their “Change Your Community” Service projects in summer 2019. Each girl came up with their own individual summer community outreach projects of their choice. One of our girls volunteered at the St. Mother Theresa Home for the Sick, Dying and Destitute, working directly with impoverished teenage mothers and their babies. Another one chose to work with an organization that tutors children living in the Korah community in Addis Ababa where many families live in difficult conditions. She created lesson plans, taught craft time, and also budgeted for and shopped the snacks that were provided to the children. One of our other AJ girls took on Addis Jemari’s new Family Empowerment Center and served the families in the program. There was a great value in the girls participating in community service projects where they encouraged others as they themselves are being encouraged by AJ. Through the opportunity of serving others, our AJ girls demonstrated their abilities to impart the knowledge they have learned through AJ’s life skills and financial literacy
- Our Summer Enrichment Classes were a big hit for our AJ Girls and provided an opportunity for them to grow into well-rounded individuals. Our girls were encouraged to bring their interests and hobbies up to the next level. Based on their personal interests, the girls practiced crocheting, took drivers education classes, and took piano lessons. These engagements helped the girls not only to learn their chosen skills, but to realize how much they are loved and cherished by their AJ family.
- In June 2019, our AJ Girls and staff went on a nine hour road trip to the western side of the Great Rift Valley of Ethiopia to visit Arba Minch. The group experienced an abundance of wildlife, enjoyed eating new types of fish and fruits that are native to this region of Ethiopia.
- In 2019, the AJ Girls and staff participated in Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative by planting various types of eco-friendly seedlings outside of the AJ Home. July 2019 was a month Ethiopia broke the record of the most trees planted in one day by planting more than 354 million trees, where three million of those trees were planted in Addis Ababa.
- Power outages are typical in Ethiopia. In 2019, the AJ home effectively and efficiently ran without being affected by the power outages, thanks to the generous donors who helped us to buy a generator. When the lights go out, the generator ensures our girls have a well-lit house to keep up with their studies and cooking and preparation of meals continue with no interruptions.
Thanks to God for the incredible growth and for bringing all of you, our AJ Champions, together to enable us to accomplish much in 2019!
